He’d been a fool to let her go. Life was something he couldn’t order or control. There would always be bad men. There would always be pain and loss. There would always be uncertainty.
But there wouldn’t always be the kind of love the two of them shared, the kind of passion that waited to be explored. If it hadn’t been for the photograph of her he’d kept from the Italian thug, he didn’t know how he would have survived the last few brutal weeks.
When no one was around, Kade took it out and stared at her face. He remembered the feel of her silky hair in his hands, the taste of her ripe lips, her exotic fragrance.
The weeks spent with the outlaws who thought nothing of selling a child into harlotry or killing a man for no reason other than the color of his skin, made it perfectly clear that he needed to take the gifts in life he’d been given and make the most of them instead of pushing them away.
Caterina was among the most precious of those gifts.
Exhausted, he led Pete off the rail car where he’d spent the trip home and mounted on stiff legs. As he rode through town after dark, he knew Ike was safe at Nash’s Folly and decided he didn’t want to fight the storm to make it out to his place. He stopped at the livery and boarded Pete for the night. The pleas from his friend there to warm up before venturing back out in the cold fell on deaf ears.
The sheriff wouldn’t expect a report from him until tomorrow, so he trudged to Caterina’s. Desperate to see her face, he needed to hear her smoky voice and slake his unquenchable thirst for her luscious lips.
His steps faltered once and he went down on one knee before regaining his balance and moving on. Out in the cold too long without any food or water, he knew he should have stayed at the livery for the night. However, the need to see her was too strong and drew him on.
Without the ability to make his fingers flex, he couldn’t even turn the doorknob at her back door and resorted to pounding with his half-frozen fist to get her attention. Through the window, he could see her talking to the cat. The domestic scene made him smile. At least it would have if he’d been able to make his facial muscles move.
When she opened the door, he called himself ten kinds of a fool for spending any time away from her, much less the past few months. Somehow managing to rasp out a few words when she would have closed the door on him, he pushed his way inside.
The last thing he remembered was his legs failing him as he neared the warmth of the stove.
Now, he could smell her scent, feel warmth surround him, hear her voice coaxing him to take a drink.
Hot liquid teased his lips apart and he accepted the offering. Hot chocolate, rich and smooth, slid down his throat leaving behind a warm, welcome trail all the way to his belly.
His teeth chattered while his body shivered violently, and pricks ran through his hands and feet as they began to warm. He felt the cocoon of warmth near his feet lifted and Caterina massaged his feet through his wooly socks. She rubbed his legs through his damp denims then moved to his hands and arms.
Unable to lift his heavy eyelids, he willed his body to be still. His ear felt unreasonably warm from the heat of the stove. He turned his head and forced his eyes open, looking directly into Caterina’s face.
“You’re back,” she said, trying not to cry, but unable to stop a few tears from trailing down her cheeks. “You’re finally back.”
Kade grunted in response and watched as she rubbed his hands then his feet again. She adjusted his blankets then rose and took something from the refrigerator, pouring it into a pan and setting it to heat on the stove. The aroma of meat and spices filled the air and Kade’s stomach rumbled in anticipation.
“Hungry, are you?” Caterina knelt beside him. She placed a hand behind his neck and lifted his head, making him drink a cup of hot coffee.
When he finished, she busied herself fixing something he couldn’t see across the room. Kade concentrated on pushing himself into a sitting position. No longer frozen clear through, he scooted around until his back rested against a leg of the kitchen table.
Rufus climbed onto his lap and meowed, waiting for the attention he was used to receiving. “Sorry, buddy,” Kade said, not willing to waste what little strength he had on the cat. “Come back in a while and I’ll make up for it.”
Insulted, Rufus jumped off Kade’s lap and marched to his bed behind the stove.
At the sound of his voice, Caterina turned around and noticed Kade used the table leg for support.
Smiling, she sat on the floor beside him, holding a bowl of fragrant soup and a plate with a piece of warm bread.
“Can you manage?” she asked. Kade struggled to free his arm from the blankets so she picked up the spoon and fed him a bite, then another and another. He ate the bread without her assistance although she held a cup of water for him to drink.
Grateful for the nourishing food and Caterina’s care, he closed his eyes and rested while she washed the dishes. He heard her go upstairs and the sound of water running before she returned to the kitchen.
Aware of her gaze on him, he opened his eyes and smiled.
“Sorry about that,” he said. His tongue remained thick and his mind fuzzy.
“I’m glad you’re okay, Kade.” Caterina stared at him. “You can’t sleep on the floor and you need to get out of those wet clothes. You’ll never get warm unless you do.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Taking you upstairs and putting you to bed,” Caterina helped Kade to his feet.
“No. I’ll go to the office and spend the night. Wouldn’t be the first time, sure it won’t be the last.” With the room spinning around him, standing without her help proved difficult.
“Take a deep breath and close your eyes,” Caterina instructed, watching him sway. If he fell, she couldn’t possibly get him back up and there was no way to get help. The snow came down so hard, she couldn’t even see across the back alley.
When his dizziness passed, he nodded his head. She positioned herself beneath his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“We can do this together, one step at a time,” she encouraged. They began the process of climbing her stairs. When they reached the landing, Kade started toward the sofa in her sitting room but she steered him down the hall.
“You need to rest, Kade, somewhere warm and comfortable. The floor is not up for discussion.” Caterina helped him to her bathroom where the tub filled with water.
Caterina left him sitting on the edge of the tub. She hurried downstairs and retrieved two kettles of hot water she’d set to boil. Steam rose in the air when she added them to the bathwater.
“A hot bath will help warm you and you’ll sleep better.” Caterina took the kettles to the kitchen before returning to help him.
He managed to get one sock off and his shirt untucked before she entered the bathroom.
Ignoring the warning bells chiming in her head to go out the door and close it firmly behind her, she unbuttoned Kade’s shirt and removed it, followed by his woolen undershirt.
Vainly attempting to take no notice of the broad expanse of his chest, the defined physique of his torso, and the burly muscles of his arms, she removed his other sock and started to unfasten the gun belt he still wore around his hips. He caught her wrist in a surprisingly firm grip.
“I’ll take it from here.” His voice sounded husky and low while his eyes revealed a storm much more dangerous than the one outside brewing in their green depths.
“Leave your clothes outside the door when you… um…” Caterina swallowed twice, and backed out the door. She hurried downstairs to heat more water to wash his clothes.
It didn’t take her long to wash them and hang his shirt, pants, and socks up to dry. She used an iron to press most of the moisture from his drawers, forcing herself not to dwell on the impropriety of her seeing them, let alone washing them.
She knocked on the bathroom door when she decided the water had to be cold and stuck her hand in, holding out his drawers. “Thought
you might need these.”
Kade took them from her and smiled when she drew her hand back as if she’d touched open flame. The door quickly closed behind her.
After he’d climbed out of the tub and scrubbed himself dry with a soft towel, he stood with it wrapped around his waist, uncertain what to do.
When she knocked on the door, he was glad to have his drawers back and slipped them on. He didn’t intend to have her wash any of his clothes, but the tone in her voice let him know she’d come in and get them if he didn’t cooperate with her demands.
Wondering how he could reclaim his clothes and get back to the livery, he didn’t have long to contemplate his choices when Caterina tapped on the door.
“If you’re done in there, come on out and go to bed,” she said, then he heard her footsteps go down the hall.
He wrapped a dry towel around his waist for modesty and again chastised himself for not staying at the livery. He had no business imposing on Caterina.
Quietly opening the door, he looked in her storage room, hoping she’d added a bed there. Nope. Maybe he could convince her to let him sleep by the fire. The heat would be welcome and he could keep it stoked through the night.
“Cat, I think maybe…”
“Bed.” She pointed to her bedroom, but kept her eyes averted, staring at the floor.
“I don’t want to put you out of your own bed, darlin’. You’re tired and need your rest.” Kade regretted his hasty decision to see Caterina before he had his head on straight.
“Get. In. The. Bed.”
Convinced she meant business, Kade climbed beneath the sheets and found them toasty. His toes bumped against towel-wrapped bricks and he settled into the welcome softness, enveloped by warmth and Caterina’s scent.
Kade moaned. He couldn’t sleep in the place where she laid her pretty, fragrant head every night.
“Are you in pain?” Caterina moved to his side and pulled the covers up under his chin.
He was in pain, for certain, but it wasn’t something he’d share with her.
“I’m fine, Cat. Please, let me sleep by the fireplace. I can make do on the sofa.” Kade started to rise up on one elbow to plead his case.
Caterina pushed him back down on the mattress. “Just go to sleep, Kade.”
“Will you stay with me a minute or two?” He felt like a vulnerable child as she blew out the lamp and sat next to him, lightly brushing her fingers across his forehead.
As he closed his eyes, he breathed in her scent, relaxed into the luxury of the big bed, and listened as she sang him an Italian lullaby. Drifting asleep, his last thought was of how he wanted to spend every night with her.
The next morning, Caterina awoke then stretched her arms and legs. Leisurely rolling onto her side, she took a deep breath and inhaled Kade’s scent. Her eyes popped open and the events of the previous evening filled her mind. She looked around, realizing she was in her own bed, snuggled into the warm covers.
With no idea how she’d gotten there, she dressed, not bothering to comb her hair, leaving it loose as she hurried out of her bedroom. Kade was not in her living quarters but raised his head from where he stoked the stove in the kitchen when she clattered down the stairs in a rush.
“Morning,” he said, looking much better than he had the previous evening when he fell to the floor. He wore his denims and wool shirt, but still sported the scruffy beard. Caterina took a moment to study it before the pull between them threatened to throw her off balance.
“Good morning,” she said, realizing she’d overslept. No wonder, the way Kade invaded her dreams all night.
“Sleep well?” he asked, trying not to smirk at the expression on her face.
“I... um… how did…” Her cheeks turned pink as she put water on to boil.
“When I got up, I carried you to your bed. You didn’t look very comfortable on the sofa.” Kade grinned as he closed the door of the stove and stood warming his hands. It took a monumental effort on his part to leave her alone in that big bed instead of climbing in beside her.
“Oh, well, um… thank you.” She tied on an apron and searched for something to bind her hair out of her way. As she reached for a piece of string, she felt Kade behind her and heard his intake of breath as he dropped his face into her hair.
Kade gathered the curly, wild mass in his hands, and let Caterina’s tresses glide through his fingers. He’d never seen anything as lovely as this feisty girl with her hair spilling down her back. It sprang into coils that reached almost to her waist, full of life and movement and beauty, just like the woman whose head it adorned.
“Cat, I missed you so much,” he whispered near her ear, making tingles race up and down her spine.
“Then why did you leave me?” She whirled around to face him.
Kade knew she wasn’t asking why he’d been out of town, but why he’d turned his back on the undeniable feelings they held for each other.
“Because I’m an idiot, a dolt, a stupid man, and I’m very sorry.” Her mouth looked as ripe as the cherries he’d helped her pick last summer and tasted every bit as sweet. Unable to stop himself, he surrendered to the desire to kiss her lips,
“That’s a start,” she said, smiling against his mouth.
He drew back just enough to watch the gold flecks in her eyes warm into amber pools. “Will you forgive me? Give me another chance?”
“I suppose so, on one condition.” Caterina leaned away from Kade, although he kept her close, with his arms wrapped around her waist. Tilting her head to one side, she grinned impishly. “You shave off that awful beard.”
Kade laughed and kissed her again. Not as a man kisses a girl he’s sparking, but one he intends to marry.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Afternoon, Mrs. Whitting,” Kade said, tipping his hat to the pastor’s wife as he walked down the boardwalk then grinned at Doc’s spouse. “Beautiful day, isn’t it, Mrs. Reed?”
Kade whistled as he made his rounds around town. He couldn’t recall ever feeling as happy as he had the last month.
After the final blizzard of the season, the snow melted, bringing warmer temperatures and the promise of spring. More than that, though, Kade had the promise of a future full of hope.
He allowed himself to fall fully and irrevocably in love with Caterina. No longer holding part of himself back, what he shared with the fiery Italian girl was something very special.
As he strolled past a shop window, the glint of sunlight on a porcelain box drew his attention. Inside, he studied the lid, painted with a bouquet of violets. That particular color made him think of Caterina and he soon carried it in a gift-wrapped box toward her restaurant.
Just a week ago, a shipment of supplies arrived from her parents along with letters from all her family members. She’d sat on his lap and cried while she read them, then read them again, holding the sheets of paper to her breast and stroking the pages, sniffing the one from her mother and muttering in Italian.
After exploring the bounty of supplies they shipped, she began cooking with a new fervor.
Even now, the afternoon breeze carried the mouth-watering aroma of the meat she roasted for dinner.
Kade waved at Grant Hill as he crossed the street then continued around the corner into the alley to go in Caterina’s back door.
As he neared it, her scream, followed by a string of fast-spoken Italian words filled the air. A male voice, speaking in Italian, answered.
Carefully setting the box on the porch and pulling his gun from the holster at his side, Kade feared what he’d find on the other side of the door. Fully expecting to see the mafia man who’d come searching for Caterina twice, Kade took a deep breath.
The door wasn’t latched, so he eased it open slowly, peering around the edge. Caterina rested in the arms of a very handsome man. She hugged him close then leaned back and swatted his arm, swiping at the tears on her face.
Jealousy twisted his gut, but Kade knew Caterina was faithful and true.
“Oh, Kade, il mio amore,” Caterina said, holding out her hand to him as the man released her. “Come meet my brother, Tony.”
“Sorry about that.” Stunned, Kade quickly holstered his gun and held out his hand in welcome.
Kade made note of Tony’s blackened eye and bruises along his jaw. When the man flinched as Kade shook his hand, he glanced down at the split skin along his knuckles. “Been in a fight lately?”
“Yes. And if you give me a minute to catch my breath, I’ll tell you all about it.” Tony kissed Caterina’s cheek then pulled out a chair from the table and straddled it. He drank deeply from the glass of water Caterina handed him then grinned at her for a refill. She filled a glass for Kade and motioned him to sit as well.
He stepped back onto the porch and retrieved her gift before setting it on the table and taking a seat.
When she turned back around from making Tony a sandwich, she looked at the box in surprise.
“What’s that?”
“Just a little something that caught my eye.” Kade didn’t want Tony to see the way Caterina turned his heart to syrup. He was a tough man of the law, after all, with a reputation to uphold. “You can open it later, Cat.”
“He calls you Cat, you call him your love… What is going on here, Rina?” Tony asked. Suddenly feeling the need to act in the place of his father, he wanted to demand Kade’s intentions toward his innocent sister.
The shiny star declaring him a deputy sheriff did nothing to dispel Tony’s concerns. Luigi had several police officers in his gang of ruffians.
“Nothing is going on here, Tony. Kade and I… well, you see… he, um…” Caterina stuttered and stamped her foot in frustration.
“I believe what she’s trying to convey is that we love each other and plan to wed this spring.” Kade tried to head off Caterina’s temper before it boiled over on her brother.
Kade studied the two siblings as they glared at each other, speaking volumes without uttering a sound. Tony had Caterina’s dark hair and they shared the same strong chin, as well as the shape of their mouth. Tony’s eyes were more golden than brown, and he bore more laugh lines around his eyes, but there was a strong family resemblance between the two.
Caterina (Pendleton Petticoats Book 2) Page 27